Anticlastogenic effect of β-glucan, extracted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on cultured cells exposed to ultraviolet radiation

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy promotes the improvement and recovery of renal function in a preclinical model

Acute renal failure (ARF) is an extremely important public health issue in need of novel therapies. The present study aimed to evaluate the capacity of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy to promote the improvement and recovery of renal function in a preclinical model. Wistar rats were used as the experimental model, and our results show that cisplatin (5mg/kg) can efficiently induce ARF, as measured by changes in biochemical (urea and creatinine) and histological parameters. MSC therapy performed 24h after the administration of chemotherapy resulted in normalized plasma urea and creatinine levels 30 and 45d after the onset of kidney disease. Furthermore, MSC therapy significantly reduced histological changes (intratubular cast formation in protein overload nephropathy and tubular hydropic degeneration) in this ARF model. Thus, considering that current therapies for ARF are merely palliative and that MSC therapy can promote the improvement and recovery of renal function in this model system, we suggest that innovative/alternative therapies involving MSCs should be considered for clinical studies in humans to treat ARF.

In vivo evaluation of the antimutagenic and antigenotoxic effects of β-glucan extracted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in acute treatment with multiple doses

Ample evidence suggests that cancer is triggered by mutagenic damage and diets or supplements capable of reducing such incidences can be related to the prevention of neoplasy development or to an improvement in life quality of patients who undergo chemotherapy. This research aimed to evaluate the antimutagenic and antigenotoxic activity of β-glucan. We set up 8 experimental groups: control (Group 1), cyclophosphamide (Group 2), Groups 3–5 to assess the effect of β-glucan administration, and Groups 6–8 to evaluate the association between cyclophosphamide and β-glucan. The intraperitonial concentrations of β-glucan used were 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg. Micronucleus and comet assays showed that within the first week of treatment β-glucan presented a damage reduction rate between 100–62.04% and 94.34–59.52% for mutagenic and genotoxic damages, respectively. This activity decreased as the treatment was extended. During the sixth week of treatment antimutagenicity rates were reduced to 59.51–39.83% and antigenotoxicity was not effective. This leads to the conclusion that the efficacy of β-glucan in preventing DNA damage is limited when treatment is extended, and that its use as a chemotherapeutic adjuvant need to be better clarified.

Effects of β-glucan polysaccharide revealed by the dominant lethal assay and micronucleus assays, and reproductive performance of male mice exposed to cyclophosphamide

β-glucan is a well-known polysaccharide for its chemopreventive effect. This study aimed to evaluate the chemopreventive ability of β-glucan in somatic and germ cells through the dominant lethal and micronucleus assays, and its influence on the reproductive performance of male mice exposed to cyclophosphamide. The results indicate that β-glucan is capable of preventing changes in DNA in both germ cells and somatic ones. Changes in germ cells were evaluated by the dominant lethal assay and showed damage reduction percentages of 46.46% and 43.79% for the doses of 100 and 150 mg/kg. For the somatic changes, evaluated by micronucleus assay in peripheral blood cells in the first week of treatment, damage reduction percentages from 80.63–116.32% were found. In the fifth and sixth weeks, the percentage ranged from 10.20–52.54% and −0.95–62.35%, respectively. Besides the chemopreventive efficiency it appears that the β-glucan, when combined with cyclophosphamide, is able to improve the reproductive performance of males verified by the significant reduction in rates of post-implantation losses and reabsorption in the mating of nulliparous females with males treated with cyclophosphamide.